How to Get Started Buying Wholesale

So you’re all in for eCommerce and you’re ready to begin your online business. You’ve set up your Amazon, eBay, or Bonanza account and you’re ready to start selling, but… wait, something’s missing. Oh yeah! You actually need have something to sell.

So how do you do that? The answer is buying wholesale.

While there are plenty of other ways to find items to sell online, if you don’t want to spend hours searching the clearance rack or driving to garage sales, buying wholesale is the way to get products that you can sell online at retail value.

Yet you may be asking, “How does that process of product sourcing work?”, “How do I find a wholesale supplier?” or “What should I sell?”. In this article, we will show how to get started buying wholesale so you can start selling your products online.

1. What to Know Before You Buy

Lovetoknow.com tells you the things you need to know about buying from wholesale suppliers, other than the well-known rule of buying low and selling high. There are many other things to consider when you begin buying wholesale, including deciding what to sell, choosing to drop-ship or self-ship, finding a wholesale supplier and considering the legal matters of starting a business.

Wholesale Megastore discusses wholesale pricing and what you will need to know about how wholesalers pricing systems work. The biggest thing to keep in mind that a wholesaler’s price usually corresponds with the quantity purchased; the more you purchase, the less you pay per item. This means that if you can afford to buy more you can sell at a more competitive price and make a better profit.

However, you want to make sure the market for the types of items you are trying to sell is not flooded with large companies, especially if you are just getting started because it will be difficult to beat their pricing. Find a product that has competition, but not too much competition.

2. Choosing Products to Sell

Shopify.com guides you through the 8 opportunity types that can help you decide what to sell online. The trick to being really successful with selling wholesale products is finding a way to be unique. This doesn’t mean that you have to find new products or sell at the lowest price, but it does mean that you have to do some product research. These 8 opportunity types can help you find unique entrances into the online market.

Source: Shopify

Uncover Opportunities in Keywords

Build an Interesting and Captivating Brand

Identify and Solve a Customer Pain Point

Identify and Cater to Consumer Passions

Follow Your Own Path

Look for an Opportunity Gap

Utilize Your Own Experience and Expertise

Capitalize on Trends Early

How To Choose the Ideal Product to Sell Online

Sterling and Jay from the “Internet Business Mastery” podcast give you 4 tips for product research and finding things to sell online. These tips focus on getting your target market involved in finding the right products to sell. The best way to know what to sell is to ask consumers what they want to buy. The 4 tips are:

Define your market first – You might fall in love with an idea, but you need to make sure there is a market for it first.

Ask your audience – Once you define a target market, it’s an excellent idea to get feedback from that market and they will tell you what they need, which you can then find a way to fill.

Don’t make it yourself – This is where you look for wholesalers that can fill your audience’s needs. You want to find the product that meets your market’s needs and provide it in the best way possible.

Involve your audience in process – As you start selling, take feedback from your market via comments and surveys where your buyers can tell you want they do and don’t like about your business.

3. Setting Up a Business That Can Purchase Wholesale

Kathy Burns-Millyard from Demand Media takes you through the process of becoming an established business so you can buy from wholesale suppliers. These are the steps you will have to take to become eligible to buy wholesale:

Get a federal tax ID number

Apply for sales tax license for the state you live in

Register your business name

Set up a business checking account

Apply for a credit or debit card to use exclusively for your business.

Find wholesale distributors

4. Fill out the buyer’s account application

Another step in setting up your business so you can buy wholesale is choosing which type of business you want to set up; the U.S. Small Business Administration will give you all the links and resources to step your preferred type of business. Start by selecting a structure to your business, then follow the steps provided.

There are six types of business structures that you can choose from. This graphic gives you a brief description of the different types of business structures.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration

Buying your first order of wholesale products is a big step on your way to starting an eCommerce business. When you’re first starting, this can seem like an intimidating step to take, but once your product starts selling and you’re making a profit from wholesale products, you’ll be sold.

Let's Discuss: Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Sarah Kiker is a student at Pepperdine University working on her BA in Creative Writing. She has worked as a Copy Editor and writer for The Graphic, Pepperdine’s student publication, and has been published in the Haringey Unchained Literary Magazine.

About The Author

Sarah Kiker is a student at Pepperdine University working on her BA in Creative Writing. She has worked as a Copy Editor and writer for The Graphic, Pepperdine’s student publication, and has been published in the Haringey Unchained Literary Magazine.